I can't thank you enough for thisanswers_withinOctober 15 2009, 17:37:40 UTC
And like I said to Etaine a few days ago, I profoundly hope that the enormous respect and fondness in which you are held by so many people will help spread this message far and wide.
As I have observed elsewhere, you are quite possibly the ONLY (or at least one of the scant few) who can assert that "there are no longer any innocents" with complete credibility. Since the rest of us cannot know the full facts of the situation, we are left to either guess and make up what we believe to be true, remain in our confusion and hurt, or trust those who DO know. You know. You have also demonstrated that your commitment is not to any one person or group, but to the health and wholeness of the Kingdom. Those things together render you one of the best guides we have in this whole mess.
I would like to emphasize that *action* is the key here - your comment about "taking your lumps" as being an inevitable and unavoidable part of the process goes right to the heart of it. There have already been a lot of words bandied about, and some of them even sounded like the right words. Unless they are backed up by clear, unequivocal *action* in accepting the consequences of actions taken, they mean nothing.
This is why most people never make that leap - to stand up and admit your wrongdoing, and then to KEEP STANDING THERE and take the anger, the disappointment, the hurt and betrayal, without attempting to defend or rationalize or simply escape - that is indeed valor, and it's also as rare as hens' teeth. It's certainly one of the hardest things I've ever had to do in my life, and I've fallen short as often as I've been able to achieve this kind of valor.
Recently red6count posted a proverb that runs, "Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy." I noted that it was important that the proverb cited both "confessing" AND "forsaking" - if you say you've done wrong but don't stop doing it, no mercy should be forthcoming. If you stop doing it but don't acknowledge what you've done, that's better but it's still not complete. You have to "own it" and "take your lumps" both, to use your words. Again going back to older models of moral behavior, this is "atonement" - the necessary process of trying to right the wrongs you've done, in whatever way is possible. Without some attempt at atonement, even if it's just facing the results of your actions without flinching, nothing is accomplished.
For myself, I can honestly say that I have tried my hardest to walk the high road throughout this and both cultivate and ask for fairness, compassion, self-honesty, and the long view. I hope I have succeeded, but if in any way it can be made known to me that I have failed in this, I will gladly own my choices and atone for them however I can.
As I have observed elsewhere, you are quite possibly the ONLY (or at least one of the scant few) who can assert that "there are no longer any innocents" with complete credibility. Since the rest of us cannot know the full facts of the situation, we are left to either guess and make up what we believe to be true, remain in our confusion and hurt, or trust those who DO know. You know. You have also demonstrated that your commitment is not to any one person or group, but to the health and wholeness of the Kingdom. Those things together render you one of the best guides we have in this whole mess.
I would like to emphasize that *action* is the key here - your comment about "taking your lumps" as being an inevitable and unavoidable part of the process goes right to the heart of it. There have already been a lot of words bandied about, and some of them even sounded like the right words. Unless they are backed up by clear, unequivocal *action* in accepting the consequences of actions taken, they mean nothing.
This is why most people never make that leap - to stand up and admit your wrongdoing, and then to KEEP STANDING THERE and take the anger, the disappointment, the hurt and betrayal, without attempting to defend or rationalize or simply escape - that is indeed valor, and it's also as rare as hens' teeth. It's certainly one of the hardest things I've ever had to do in my life, and I've fallen short as often as I've been able to achieve this kind of valor.
Recently red6count posted a proverb that runs, "Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy." I noted that it was important that the proverb cited both "confessing" AND "forsaking" - if you say you've done wrong but don't stop doing it, no mercy should be forthcoming. If you stop doing it but don't acknowledge what you've done, that's better but it's still not complete. You have to "own it" and "take your lumps" both, to use your words. Again going back to older models of moral behavior, this is "atonement" - the necessary process of trying to right the wrongs you've done, in whatever way is possible. Without some attempt at atonement, even if it's just facing the results of your actions without flinching, nothing is accomplished.
For myself, I can honestly say that I have tried my hardest to walk the high road throughout this and both cultivate and ask for fairness, compassion, self-honesty, and the long view. I hope I have succeeded, but if in any way it can be made known to me that I have failed in this, I will gladly own my choices and atone for them however I can.
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